Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 11:27:18 -0800 From: Rives McDow <rmcdow@enteles.com>

I have been advised that Pakistan has decided to adopt dst on a TRIAL basis for one year, starting 00:01 local time on April 7, 2002 and ending at 00:01 local time October 6, 2002. This is what I was told, but I believe that the actual time of change may be 00:00; the 00:01 was to make it clear which day it was on.

Thanks for the heads-up. I looked around and found these copies of what appears to be essentially the same source: http://www.dawn.com/2001/12/06/top4.htm http://www.hclinfinet.com/2001/DEC/WEEK2/7/PAKInsideNN2.jsp http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/dec2001-daily/06-12-2001/main/main5.htm (dated 2001-12-06) which says that the Cabinet adopted a scheme "to advance the clocks by one hour on the night between the first Saturday and Sunday of April and revert to the original position on 15th October each year". This agrees with your April 7 at 00:00, but disagrees about the October transition, and makes it sound like it's not on a trial basis. Also, the "between the first Saturday and Sunday of April" phrase, if taken literally, means that the transition takes place at 00:00 on the first Sunday on or after April 2, not the more-usual April 1. The first year that this would make a difference is 2007. For what it's worth, Shanks says that the last transition from DST in what is now Pakistan also occurred at 00:00 on October 15. The year was 1945.